Securing Land Rights for India’s Tribes

Maoist insurgents have been engaged in a long battle with state and national authorities. Shown, a soldier during combat with Maoists, June 19, 2009.

With incidents of left-wing extremist violence in India becoming increasingly brazen, efforts are being taken to address the core issue of unfair land ownership laws in the tribal hinterlands.

Maoist insurgents, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor tribals and farmers, have been engaged in a long battle with state and national authorities. The government describes the conflict as India’s most serious internal security threat. In the latest major incident, at least 21 rebels were reportedly killed on June 29 in clashes with security forces in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Advertisement

In a recent letter to the chief ministers of 17 states, Minister for Tribal Affairs Kishore Chand Deo asked for better implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. He identified areas in need of immediate attention and suggested amendments to the act, which the ministry will formally table in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The proposals are aimed at addressing the grievances that tribals and traditional forest dwellers of India have had since pre-independence. The FRA was enacted to correct the “historical injustices” (as the minister’s letter states) done to forest dwellers under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, which gave the government arbitrary power to take over forest land without proper rehabilitation and resettlement of the traditional inhabitants.

However, poor implementation and widespread corruption in granting land titles has only increased the sense of alienation in the tribal belt of India, especially in the Maoist, or Naxalism-affected areas.

In his letter, Mr. Deo said that in the FRA 2006, in the five years of its existence, has failed to help. The FRA was enacted to remedy the exclusionary nature of the 1927 act, wherein forest land was divided in “Reserved” and “Protected” categories that greatly limited human occupation.

Forests in India are home to over 250 million people, whose primary source of livelihood is forest produce. But under the 1927 act, reserved and protected forests couldn’t be used for farming or livestock grazing. This led to mass encroachment by traditional forest dwellers, who were then were subjected to legal action in the form of eviction, fines and arrest. The situation deteriorated after the Zamindari (tenant farming) system was abolished in the 1950s, leading to a diminished social sense of ownership and protection of forest among the tribals as there was no law to protect their interests.

After a period of dissent and social unrest, the government decided to grant land ownership titles to locals based on how long they had been there. This system raised the importance of the Patwari (keeper of land records). But as the tribals didn’t have any means of proving the period of occupation, the system became corrupt, vesting all the power in the hands of one person, the Patwari.

The FRA 2006 sought to address these inconsistencies and bring about a uniform system of proving ownership of tribal land. It also provided due procedure for resettlement of forest dwellers in case an animal sanctuary was designated in their area. Despite being a comprehensive legislation in spirit, corruption again hurt its implementation.

The proposed recommendation by Mr. Deo aims to correct this by making local self governance and grievance redressal under the act effective through strengthening the Gram Sabha (village committees) instead of granting infinite powers to forest officials.

The letter highlighted poor public awareness as a primary concern and has suggested better information dissemination so that the forest dwellers are aware of the law pertaining to land titles and file claims accordingly, reducing the chances of rejection. It also suggests stringent and prompt action against defaulting government officials involved in illegal eviction. It makes community rights stronger, too.

Critics of the FRA say it was enacted by the government for privatizing natural resources and making vote banks out of the forest dwellers. But the basic principles of the act were largely misunderstood. Contrary to popular belief, the FRA is not a land redistribution legislation. It merely provides for land ownership titles to forest dwellers who have occupied and farmed the land. These titles cannot be sold but can be passed on within a family.

Mr. Deo’s letter is the first step in correcting injustices done to the forest dwelling and tribal population of India. If implemented properly, it could signal the end of the deep divide between the government agenda and tribal demands for land ownership titles, and perhaps help end the conflict that has existed since Independence.

Medha Chaturvedi is a research officer with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi. Her areas of research are left wing extremism and the process of internal development in Myanmar. Before joining IPCS in 2010, she worked for five years as a journalist covering organized crime. Write to: medhachaturvedi@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @medhachaturvedi

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.